THE first batch of fresh whole Musang King has finally reached supermarket shelves in China, much to the delight of durian fans, reported China Press.
For the first time ever, vendors in major Chinese supermarkets will get to peddle fresh King of Fruits at their stores imported directly from Malaysia.
One of them is a vendor known as Wanbang Xiaohao Brother, who shared photos on social media of fresh durians at his stall.
The vendor was seen cutting open several to offer a taste to his customers.
A durian fan from China’s Henan province wrote that he had finished an entire fruit.
Going by the username DD on social media Xiaohongshu, he wrote that he paid 236 yuan (RM144) for a whole durian which weighed 1.632kg.
Many Internet users from Malaysia were startled by the price – which was more than five times of those being sold back home right now – but DD reasoned the cost for importing Musang King into China must be high, hence the exorbitant price.
It was earlier reported that Malaysia sent its first shipment of 20 tonnes of fresh durian to China, which arrived on Aug 24.
In the past, Malaysia was only allowed to export frozen durians to the Middle Kingdom.
The deal to export fresh whole durian to China materialised in June after Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim witnessed the signing of an agreement in Kuala Lumpur, marking 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
>Hong Kong superstar Jackie Chan was named as one of the torch-bearers in the lead up to the Paralympics opening ceremony in Paris, the daily also reported.
The 70-year-old, known for his comedic fight scenes, will carry the flame on Aug 28 in Paris hours before the opening ceremony.
Apart from Chan, other notable torch-bearers include French actress Elsa Zylberstein as well as dancer/choreographer Benjamin Millepied.
● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
